Deborah Noyes

"A biography of Nellie Bly, the pioneering journalist whose showy but substantive stunts skyrocketed her to fame"--

The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original Girl Reporter Nellie Bly

Ten Days a Madwoman

Kim Tyo-Dickerson

The title is captivating and refers to Nellie Bly's most famous news story, but this is actually an innovative biography of the young woman named Elizabeth Jane "Pink" Cochran who left her home in Pittsburgh at age 21 and arrived in New York City penniless with the goal to convince a big city newspaper to hire her as a reporter. Against all odds, young "plucky" Nellie convinced Joseph Pulitzer owner of the New York World newspaper to hire her to go undercover as a madwoman in a dangerous journalistic investigation into the brutal life inside one of New York's well-known insane asylums, The Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. Her reporting there led to improvements in the care of the women in the asylum as well as making her famous. Bly eventually went on to race around the world in an exciting stunt to beat Jules Verne's famous fictional character Phileas Fogg who went Around the World in Eighty Days, as well as spending five years reporting on the evils of trench warfare during World War I. All along her path as a journalist are interspersed flashback pages in bright blue that describe the events of her early life including the death of her wealthy father, her mother's remarriage to an abusive alcoholic, and Elizabeth's determination to follow her dreams and take care of her mother, siblings, nieces and nephews whether they gave her the same dedication and financial support or not. Altogether enjoyable and sophisticated biography for grades 8 and up.

Ten Days a Madwoman The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original Girl Reporter Nellie Bly

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